Food & Water Security Program
The growing population increases the demand on food and feed, and raises awareness about the global challenge of food security. Development of local food and feed resources has a high priority in Qatar, as it currently imports around 90% of its food. However, it is difficult to accomplish food security with traditional agricultural crops, due to Qatar’s desert climate, lack of arable land, and scarcity of fresh water. At the CSD, we are developing innovative approaches for achieving sustainable production of food and feed sources, whilst linking sustainable agriculture to water-use efficiency and sustainable practices. This program is focused on a number of different research areas:
-Halophytes and saline crops; development of non-traditional agricultural crops, which don’t require fresh-water, such as halophytes, but also by identifying molecular mechanisms responsible for salt-tolerance, and using this to potentially improve salt tolerance of conventional crops.
-Soil Enhancement; Alternative sources of fertilizers, which are more sustainable in terms of production as well as environmental pollution, are an important part of increasing the sustainability of agriculture. At the CSD we are researching the use of different types of organic (waste) materials, for enhancing soil quality and crop growth.
-Crop Cultivation; The Qatar environment poses challenges on conventional agriculture, and arable land and fresh-water are scarce resources. Alternative ways to cultivate conventional crops are being investigated, which include vertical farming as well as greenhouse innovations.
-Water Reuse; Water scarcity is one of the main challenges for achieving sustainable food production in Qatar. Designing efficient systems for water use and recycle will facilitate sustainable crop production in Qatar and help in achieving food security.
